Chair convertible into a table and vice versa



,R. s VELLA April 29, 1952 CHAIR CONVERTIBLE INTO A TABLE AND VICE VERSAFiled May 2, 1950 Mini RUBY .1 T'zLA IN V EN TOR.

Patented Apr. .29, 1952 UNITED STATES- PATENT F 2,395,179 CHAIR;CONVERTIBLE INTO A TABIiE- AND V VICE VERSAK Riih'y veiia; LosAiigls'icalif;

Abplii'xatior'i' May fli 'lilm', Serial Noi- 159522 3 Claims. (c1.15543i This; ihiiefi-tioh relates te an intefconvertible 1h; tableahd-chair; 7

speifially' speakir'ig the in've'ntioii' perieee of fiirr'iitui' econvertible from an" chair Iitd a:table and'viceversa; the table vioe''is iii iise'as a chair and the arms of the chaiif sdppbfting' 'thetable top member when the device-is used as a table'.

AIthGUQHthe art-to which this invent-ion per tair'is' 1S already Welldeveloped, yet there" r= maifis-' 1'oom for improvement particularly inre gaid to SiIhp1ifyirig ceiistl dctiorl al'ldjto securing" a smeothr;more satisfactory: operation of such a*dvice'.--; I V

Accordingly; among the obj ee'ts' -of the resent ifi-Vefitibri die tdreduce the" number of in thedevicef and to p'i'ovide a; devicecons'istmlgimember wh ch selectively forms the back 'ofthe (lfifiif'alild' thwlbl tbp 031i be -01231 21"ate d in amofehat isfactorjflmanner converti'hg thefchairih'fidaf-table and' in cdnveftirlg th tfibleinto "a greove'facing thatofth'e 'othef'and' adepies'sion inthefiont endbf each of said grooves: inborn binatiomwit'h' a" chair back member withpins pldjtingfldm its? sid eedges'td travel i1 1 Saidgrooves,sdpositio'ned in" relation to saidgio'oves aiid depies'sion's" as tomaintain said member midlength portions 'oi' 'the'se feur 'lesbemgrn eeor otherwise se'eured -tof eorner postionsf of 'said skeletal frame 6supported inits -cor r'ier 'poij s: byupstandingiron'tleg's I andrear l8 chair. bottom ffame which is 'preyide'd with aconventional,padded-seat pommsa-e M i Twin horizontal arm I rests IDare; fifov'id'd each'idf'w'hich is1secured'atop the legs-Wendi atits-side of t-hechaina rearkend portioii' lOiz of" each of said arm=restsex tending 'rearwatdlyof a back' chair -leg 8 Each-- 0?said-armrests is internally grooved eel-indicated at-|-|,.from a point about"athird the -way baekfromvits fi'ont" end,. rear'wa'r'dly to a. point"considerably back f the rear leg B' at its-ssi'dei'ofthe d'evi'cei eacharoove being rectangular iii czross' section and pfe'ferably extending"about-half way tniou'gh the thickness of the ai'fii restas isi-WllShown it? Fig; 3.-

A combined, swin'g'ably mcuntee chai r tameand table' w imember eispf'ovided a a be? carrying a subsiiralntiet11y 'ldtafi added back restproper '16 having Side 'pietis 1 arespaced inwardly 'fr omtheout e'dg"1501 tibns of thebodypoiti'enof SaidSWiHg-aB me b'ef l5." Each- 0f s'aidside pieces carries olltwai"dly 'p'iojecting dowel pin" Of Sfili alltimes projecting slidabli'intd thea? giove' ll at-its'Sideofthe-"cH-aare located somewhat abovfth'mid liigto!" said inell'lbez"l5Whenthe-1atter in its-chair back foi-miligpositi'ohafi which time;owmg w sai'd pins [8' being located forwardly of its" cen t'ei ofgravity; Saidlhembef" IE 'ihCIine'S -SIigI A-M? backward with-its pins18 engaging the-rear ends- 0fthe grooves and==its lower end-abutti pairof elastic bumpersl9 carried -by.--the "leg's The lower end of saidinember l5 may be- 'swiiiig upwardly and rearwardly from the chairbaokforming. position, and during such SWing-thre of said pins l8 remain inengagement-Withthe rearends ofthe guide-grooves I l untilsaidmemher I!has reached a nearly horizontal position, whereupon the operator willpull said member I 5 forwardly till its pins l8 seat in bottomdepressions Ila provided for them at the front" converting the devicefrom a chair into a table,

and when converting it from a table into a chair swing backwardly andupwardly over said rounded parts. During these operations said ledges donot contact with the upper surface of said arm rests; thereforeinjurious wear and friction is avoided.

'Ifhe superior manner in which the device is operable will be moreclearly understood when itis noted that, at each side of the device,when the stud I8 is in engagement with the rear end of the groovell, theradial distance from the center of the stud to the adjacent part of theledge Z is slightly greater than the vertical distance from themidheight of the groove to the top of the arm rest, so' that when thelower end of member I is swung upwardly and rearwardly from itspendantposition about the axis of said stud until said member reaches ahorizontal positiodand thereupon is pulled forwardly toward proper'tabletop-forming position, during this operation a"clear ance can bemaintained between said ledge 2ll-and the top surface'of the arm restuntil said member l5 has been pulled so far forward as to cause its studl8 to drop into the depression Ha. Therefore, in operating the deviceforward and rearward horizontal movement of said member l5 will notproduce injurious abrasion or wear between it and the underlying armrests, aridyet when it is in its most forward pos'ition it will rest ina fiatwise, non-tiltable manner upon the arm rests and will bereleasably locked against backsliding;

In Fig. 3 the body portion of the chair back member I5 is shownprojecting above the padded back rest, where it is ornamented byfiligree openings 2B and a wavy upper edge 21.

In assembling the device, after the padded back rest member It has beenattached to the remaining part of the swingable member 35 and the pinsill have been driven into place with bores provided for them into whichthey snugly fit, the grooves I l in the arm rests are caused to registerwith said pins while the swingable member I5 is in a superjacentrelation to the tops of the four chair legs, Whereupon the arm rests areput into place atop said legs.

- It is to be understood that the form of the invention hereinillustrated and described is but one example of the same and thatvarious changes as to the shape, size and arrangement of parts mayberesorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of thesubjoined claims.

' Iclaim:

' 1. An interconvertible combination table and chair having a pair ofsubstantially horizontal arm rests in each of which is a longitudinalgroove facing the other arm rest, and a chair ill back member withoutwardly projecting pins in its side edges at all times occupying saidgrooves to guide said member into and from table top forming position,said grooves each having a depression at its outer end, the spacing ofsaid pins from the under side of the table top compared to the spacingof the grooves from the top faces of the arms maintaining the sideportions of said member out of sliding contact with the upper surfacesof said arm rests during the movement of said member from chair back totable top position, and vice versa, and when said member is in its mostforward table top forming position said depressions providing seats forsaid pins which enable the operator to lower said member into a contactwith said arm rests wherein it is releasably held against backsliding.

2. A combination chair and table comprising a stationary frame includinglegs and a rectangular chair bottom supported by said legs, there beinga front and a rear pair of said legs connected with corner portions ofsaid chair bottom and extending upwardly thereabove, a substantiallyhorizontal arm rest supported at each side of the chair atop theaforesaid upwardly extending pore tions of said legs, each of said armrests having a rear end portion which extends a considerabledistancerearwardly of the top of the rear leg at its side of the chair, each ofsaid arm rests hav ing along it a longitudinal groove the open side ofwhich is directed toward the opposite arm rest and which extends from apoint considerably spaced away from the front end of the arm restrearwardly to a point considerably rearward of the top of the rear legat that side of the chair, and a combination chair I back. and table topmember, said member carrying at eachside an outwardly projecting pinwhich, when said member is in chair back forming position is locatedforwardly of the center of gravity of said member and above itsmidheight and engages the rear end of the aforesaid groove at its sideof the chair while the lower end of said member inclines forwardly andabuts loosely against the back side of the aforesaid stationary frame,said member being swingable upwardly at its lower portion and movableforwardly, thus advancing its said pins along said guide grooves untilthe former occupy the front end portions of the latter, said memberhaving laterally projecting side portions which at such time rest uponsaid arm rests, said grooves each having a'bottom depression in itsfront end, the spacing of said pins from the under side of the table topcompared to the spacing of the grooves from the top faces of thearmsmaintaining said laterally projecting side portions of said memberout of contact with the upper surfaces of said arm rests except whensaid member is in its most forward position, at which time said pinsseat in said depressions and permit said side por-. tions to lower intocontact with the arm rests.

3. A chair having legs, a seat portion carried thereby, arm restsmounted upon said legs and a back portion for said chair convertibleinto a table top and vice versa, a side piece secured to said backportion in an inwardly spaced relation to each of its side edges, adowel pin anchored in each said side piece and having a free end portionextending outwardly therefrom, there being a groove in each said armrest facing the other arm rest and extending from a point near the rearend of the arm rest to a point in a predetermined relation to its frontend, said pins occupying said grooves in both the back forming positionof the chair back and in the table forming position, said pins when saidback is in the chair back forming position occupying the rearmostposition in said grooves and when said back is in the table formingposition said pins occupying the foremost position in said grooves, thatportion of said chair back which lies adjacent said dowel supportingside pieces and which in the table forming position overlie said armrests comprising ledges, the distance from each said ledge to the centerof each said pin being slightly greater than the vertical distance fromthe midheight of said grooves to the topmost portion of said arm rests,whereby as said pins move in a horizontal direction in said grooves saidledges remain out of contact with said arm rests, each of said grooveshaving at its front end a depres- RUBY S. VELLA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 916,631 Towne Mar. 30, 1909FOREIGN PATENTS 5 Number Country Date 391,303 Great Britain Apr. 27,1933

